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U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR

Despite a 3-under 69 on Sunday, Paul Simson came up one stroke short of sharing medalist honors again at the Senior Amateur with Pat Tallent. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

Orlando, Fla. – Patrick Tallent has two medals. Now he wants the trophy.

For the second consecutive year, Tallent ended the stroke-play portion of the USGA Senior Amateur Championship as the medalist, shooting a 2-under-par 70 on Sunday for a 36-hole total of 4-under 140 over the 6,691-yard, par-72 Lake Nona Golf & Country Club.

The 57-year-old from Vienna, Va., finished stroke play with 29 pars, six birdies and one double bogey on his final hole to take home medalist honors by one stroke over good friend Paul Simson, whom Tallent was grouped with for the two rounds of qualifying.

Simson, 59, of Raleigh, N.C., and the co-medalist with Tallent at the 2009 Senior Amateur, had a 3-under 69 for a 141 total.

The 6 at the par-4 18th hole was the only hiccup in two days for the steady Tallent.

Seventeen holes, I played really well, said Tallent with a wry smile on his face. I hadn’t made a bogey in two days, so I went 35 holes. I still didn’t make a bogey because I doubled the 18th. I played really well.

For a player who admitted to struggling through his practice rounds, Tallent showed no fear in the face of the challenging Lake Nona course. He finished Saturday’s first round tied for the championship lead, and carried that momentum into another dominating performance on a picture-perfect Central Florida afternoon. He also knew that, with the quality of his and Simson’s play, the friends would likely be on opposite ends of the match-play bracket.

We kind of knew that we were playing for the medal since we were both so far under par at the turn, said Tallent.

Simson entered Sunday’s round two strokes behind the first-round leaders. A winner of several high-profile 2010 championships, including the British Seniors Amateur Championship, Simson also enjoyed playing with Tallent in the stroke-play portion of the competition.

We had a ball, said Simson. We had a good time. I told him we had a clinic going on. He was putting on a clinic for a while.

However, Tallent and Simson both know that a good showing in stroke play does not necessarily translate into success in match play. In fact, the next portion of the championship has not historically been kind to the medalists, as only seven in the championship’s 55-year history have claimed the trophy.

I think it’s more rare than not that the medalist wins, said Tallent, a first-round victim in last year’s first round to 2001 and 2003 champion Kemp Richardson. Normally, he gets beat. I’m hoping to do better than that. I’d like to at least win one.

Few people can relate to those words more than Simson, who was the championship medalist in 2006, 2008 and 2009 and failed to win each time.

I’ve played well all summer, said Simson, a 15-stroke winner at the Canadian Senior Amateur. [If I] get a couple of breaks in match play, it could be a good week. It could be a good week for anybody. All you have to do is make the cut. Everybody’s equal starting tomorrow.

Robin McCool of Bethlehem, Pa., and 2007 champion Stanford Lee of Heber Springs, Ark., who shared the first-round lead with Tallent, also advanced to match play at 146 and 144, respectively.

The cut for match play came at 8-over-par 152, with 11 golfers playing off for the last 10 spots on Monday at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

Match play also begins Monday at 9:30 a.m. The second and third rounds are scheduled for Tuesday, the quarterfinal and semifinal matches are on Wednesday and the 18-hole championship final will be played Thursday morning.

The USGA Senior Amateur, open to golfers 55 and over, is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Christina Lance is the USGA’s coordinator of championship communications. E-mail her with questions or comments at clance@usga.org.

Orlando, Fla. – Results from Sunday’s second and final round of stroke-play qualifying at the 2010 USGA Senior Amateur being contested at the 6,691-yard, par-72 Lake Nona Golf & Country Club. (*Indicates golfers involved in 11-for-10 playoff on Monday for the final match-play spots)